Arcturus didn’t expect an inventor’s house to be the largest house he had seen in the Outskirts by far. It was a fenced, two-story large brick house with a balcony and a nicely decorated front porch. It was as if the owner was flaunting his wealth in this district. The brick gate had a doorbell that Murphy pressed.
“Who is it?” A woman’s voice called out from the speaker.
“It’s me, Murphy. I’m here to pick up Constance.”
“Ms. Constance is currently getting maintenance. If you’d like, you can come in.”
“That would be great.”
When the speaker got cut off, the gate slowly opened, allowing them to enter. Arcturus inspected the yard. A clutter of different inventions sparked his attention. There were canine Cobots herding around sheep Cobot into cleaning the icy surface of the yard for they had blades for hooves. There were brooms that were floating around and dusting the porch. All these inventions intrigued him. They looked very high quality for someone who lived in a rather ragged part of the city.
When they entered, they were greeted with a bespectacled woman with long brown hair. Unlike Jennifer who was bespectacled and mousy-looking, this woman had angular glasses that gave her a sharp appearance and a diligent appearance. She looked very responsible in Arcturus’s eyes. However, what surprised him was her brown hair. Ilacians had light colored hair, meaning this woman’s dark brown hair meant she was a Laminan like Murphy, or she dyed her hair. He had seen Laminans dye their hair a lighter shade in the past.
She bowed at the sight of the guests. “Welcome to the inventor Hilbert Armstrong’s office and home. I am his secretary, Sara Jenkins.” Not only did she look serious, but she also sounded the part.
“Good evening, Sara. We’re looking for Constance.”
She adjusted her glasses at the sight of Murphy. “You are Murphy Edwards, Constance’s caretaker.” When she looked at Arcturus, she raised an eyebrow. “Who might he be?”
“I’m Percival Scarlet, a scholar who came to this land after being washed ashore. I’m under Murphy’s care for now.”
“She’s currently conversing with Hilbert. I’ll lead you to his main office.”
The office was a lot cleaner than Arcturus had initially expected. He had assumed it’d be an untidy place with gadgets and machinery parts scattered about, but it was very clean. The floor and furniture shined so brightly, he could see his own reflection as he passed by. Though, it seemed that Hilbert wasn’t one for coordination as his furniture and other decorations did not match in color, shape, size and vibes. He saw a dark wooden chair on one side and then a plastic blue one across from it.
The office was at the end of the hallway guarded by double doors. Sara pushed the door open and a spacious room greeted them. There were bookshelves filled with gadgets and cobots resting on each layer and another filled with old books. The office mainly had a large wooden desk with a large computer monitor. Behind them was a bespectacled man dressed in a white coat; underneath the coat, he wore a beige turtleneck sweater. He had unkempt honey blond hair and green eyes. He had a big smile plastered on his face as he spoke to Constance.
“Mr. Armstrong, you have guests.” Sara remarked.
Hilbert looked rather surprised to see them as he adjusted his glasses; the chains around the legs dangled as he did so. “Oh? Murphy, it’s been a while.”
Sara bowed as she left the office, leaving both of them behind. Arcturus noticed Hilbert staring right at him. His eyes glistened as he stood up. He rushed towards Arcturus with a fascinated look. “A yellow earring. You must be Arcturus!”
“Y-yes…” Arcturus had to lean back because Hilbert’s face was so close to him. He was also nervous as he mainly walked around town with an alias and not his actual name. He knew that Constance wasn’t around to hear of his pseudonym and would probably not use it for Shifties could not lie.
Constance then turned around. “Do you have business here?”
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“Yeah, I came to pick you up.” Murphy remarked. “P–Arcturus is here to get something fixed.”
Constance looked away. “I don’t need to be ‘picked up’. Sophia is still mad at me.” Arcturus could tell from her expression that their spat really upsetted her.
“You don’t need to get too worked up over that. She gets emotional whenever it comes to Virgo, but her steam will blow off soon.” Constance didn’t seem convinced; Murphy could only sigh.
Arcturus couldn’t help but to be nervous around Hilbert who seemed to have been circling around him ever since Constance and Murphy started talking to each other. “Do you need anything from me?”
“Is your red hair natural?”
“It’s scarlet, not red, and yes, it’s natural.”
Hilbert then started wiggling his fingers. “Can I touch your arms?”
Arcturus raised an eyebrow as he refused, causing Hilbert to cross his arms and pout. His first impression of the inventor was not very good; he was a rather eccentric individual with a love for invading people’s personal space. Regardless, he still needed this man to fix his bangle, so he rummaged into his satchel and got out the broken bangle.
“Mr. Armstrong–
“Call me Hilbert!”
“Hilbert, would you mind looking at this?”
Hilbert took the bangle off of his hand and examined it closely. He hummed. “This is quite advanced.”
“Are you able to fix it?”
“I’m not too sure, but I do want to try. I’ve always wanted to try tinkering with advanced Laminan technology.”
A smile came to Arcturus; he was relieved that there was hope for his bangle. He needed it, after all. “If you need payment, I can give you a Cobot…” He took out the bat Cobot Souhait gave to him. The sight of it caused Hilbert’s face to light up, but then he became serious.
“Arcturus, fixing this bangle is worth a lot for one payment; fixing advanced technology is worth two items.”
This was the first Arcturus had heard of a rule, but if that was his policy, he had to abide by it. He wondered what could be worth as much as a Cobot. He remembered that Souhait had given him two items; this could be a great chance to ask someone knowledgeable with technology about Monarch Shifties. He took out the purple earring and showed it to Hilbert.
“How about this?”
Constance was the first to react. She looked wary, as if something dangerous was looming towards her. She took a few steps back. “What is that item in your hand?”
“It’s a Shiftie’s earring.” He tried showing it to her.
She took a few steps forward and peered at it. “Why is it purple? There are only red, blue and yellow earrings in existence.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, my dear Constance.” Hilbert remarked. The jovial demeanor he had became a serious one. “Purple earrings do exist. They belong to Monarch Shifties–a rather new creation.”
Constance looked confused. “Impossible. They don’t exist.”
“This earring is proof they do.”
“Could you tell me more about them?” Arcturus inquired; he hoped to learn more about them so that he knew what to expect if he would encounter another one in the future.
Hilbert’s serious face quickly changed back into his sunny disposition. “Arcturus, just hang onto that for now. I’ll just take the Cobot as payment. And, about Monarchs…I’ll explain once I fix this.”
“Thank you.”
“Anyways, fixing this will take time. I’ll contact Constance when it’s ready. Go out; have some fresh air.”
Arcturus then took off his earring and handed it over to Hilbert. “You might need this as it’s linked with my bangle.”
“Thanks.”
Arcturus then left the office with Murphy and Constance. It felt odd not having his earring; it felt as if his left ear was naked now. Once they stepped foot outside of the house, Murphy turned to Constance. “Constance, when we’re on the streets, can you call Arcturus as Percival Scarlet? We don’t want his identity to be known.”
She tilted her head. “But he’s Arcturus Mercury?”
“He is, but not right now. He’s using a pseudonym just in case someone finds him suspicious.”
“I don’t why he has to use a fake name because of that. But, if that’s what you humans want me to do, I’ll try.”
“Anyways, let’s go home for now.”
Constance shook her head. “I don’t want to.”
“Constance.” Murphy looked like a father scolding his rebellious teenage daughter.
“I’m not going back until Sophia apologizes for the mean things she said.” She pouted, which surprised Arcturus. He was shocked to see a Shiftie capable of holding grudges.
The older man could only sigh. “That’s going to take a long time. Sophia is as stubborn as she is hot-tempered. What are we going to do if you don’t want to return home?”
Arcturus suggested, “Then, shall we continue shopping? I do want to buy some extra clothes and toiletries for both Nova and me.”
“Sure…”
They left the gates of Hilbert’s home. Arcturus, however, turned around to look back at it. He hoped it was right for him to entrust his precious earring to the inventor he only just met. Although his impression of him was bad, Hilbert felt like he could be trusted; he wanted to place his trust in him. He then caught up with Murphy and Constance who called out to him.